Chef Art Smith Makes Atlanta Debut with Southern Art and Bourbon Bar
Restaurant to serve Southern-influenced cuisine beginning September 26, 2011
ATLANTA (August 17, 2011) – Acclaimed chef, restaurateur and cookbook author Art Smith will open the doors to Southern Art and Bourbon Bar, his first restaurant and bar concepts in the Southeast, on Monday, September 26, 2011. Smith’s highly anticipated debut in the heart of Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood will combine a hip, urban eatery with classic Southern charm, offering Southern-inspired cuisine and cocktails in a welcoming, relaxed atmosphere.
“I am very excited to bring Southern Art to the Atlanta dining scene, which has become one of the most progressive culinary cities in the country,” said Smith. “Southern Art will embrace my heritage and utilize the freshest ingredients from local farms to celebrate the South.”
The Chef
Receiving the culinary profession’s highest awards and cooking for some of the world’s most famous celebrities, Art Smith brings his culinary passion and prowess to Atlanta with Southern Art. In addition to his role as executive chef and co-owner of Table fifty-two in Chicago, Ill., Art and Soul in Washington, D.C., and LYFE Kitchen in Palo Alto, Calif., Smith served as the personal chef to Oprah Winfrey for 10 years and now coordinates and cooks for the headline-grabbing special events that she hosts worldwide. Smith’s several television appearances include Top Chef, Top Chef Masters, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Iron Chef America, The Today Show, Nightline, Fox News, Extra, BBQ Pitmasters, Dr. Oz and Oprah. A contributing editor to O, the Oprah Magazine, Smith is also the author of three award-winning cookbooks: Back to the Table, Kitchen Life: Real Food for Real Families and Back to the Family. In 2003, he founded Common Threads, a non-profit organization that teaches children about diversity and tolerance through the world's great cultures. Smith was honored by Chicago magazine as a “Chicagoan of the Year” in 2007, and later that year received the prestigious “Humanitarian of the Year” award by the James Beard Foundation.
The Cuisine
The menu at Southern Art is a blend of Smith’s Southern cooking heritage, true love for
Southern comfort food and strong commitment to serving traditional classics prepared with his light, modern approach. Embracing farm-to-table and regional cooking, Smith encourages diners to celebrate comfort and health. The menu will also be reflective of Smith’s own family traditions with roots deep in the South, featuring a few select custom- aged steaks from the Smith family’s 100-year-old cattle ranch located in Hamilton County on the border of south Georgia and north Florida.
Sample appetizers include baked oysters with crispy pork belly, Smith’s mother Addie Mae’s chicken-and-dumpling soup, Tybee Island pickled shrimp with tomato, watermelon and lime-basil dressing and a Lowcountry seafood platter. Entrée selections range from roasted whole yellowtail snapper with smashed roasted potatoes, spit-roasted half chicken with braised greens, braised Berkshire hog pork shoulder with green tomato chow-chow, fried chicken and sour cream waffles and Smith Family Ranch grilled aged ribeye steak with red eye gravy. For a complete Southern dining experience, guests can savor classic side dishes such as corn and okra pudding and sweet potato soufflé.
Artisan Ham Bar
Further embracing Southern culinary traditions, Southern Art will feature an artisan ham- and-charcuterie bar to showcase the strong craft and long-standing traditions of regional country hams. Carved to order and served with piping hot biscuits or crackling skillet corn bread and house-made butter and pickles, the artisan ham bar will be a unique focal point for the dining room and a distinctive beginning to any meal.
Pies and Cakes
In addition, guests can peruse delectable house-made desserts from a vintage pie table from which classics such as blueberry cobbler, buttermilk chocolate cake, 12-layer red velvet cake, mockingbird cake with crushed peaches and Georgia pecans and summer peach pie will be served. Guests can order a house-made pie, baked to order, to enjoy in house or to take home for friends and family to share.
Bourbon Bar
With seating for 74 guests, Bourbon Bar will serve as both a meeting place for after-work and post-dinner gathering in a convivial, friendly atmosphere. The Southern-inspired bar will feature a well-cultivated selection of American bourbon distillers, focusing on small- batch producers and featuring select bourbons only available at Bourbon Bar through exclusive agreements. In addition to more than 70 bourbon offerings, guests can sip on an array of cocktails which showcase distinctive twists on American classics from the pre- Prohibition era that are available only in the bar.
The Space
In keeping with the hallmark of Smith’s acclaimed restaurants, Southern Art will strike the balance between comfortable and sophisticated, combining a hip, urban eatery with classic Southern charm. Guests will be greeted by a vintage pie table resplendent with antique cake stands and white daisies. Opposite the main dining room, Bourbon Bar features large communal tables, a rich tobacco-colored wall covering and a bronze and linen pendant fixture. The impressive artisan ham-and-charcuterie bar lures visitors to the 92-seat main dining room which is complete with a large private dining room that seats up to 40 people. Guests are also invited to dine al fresco on the 48-seat outdoor terrace along bustling Peachtree Road in the heart of Buckhead’s business district.
A unique collage of artwork is suspended from the ceiling and floats over guests like a cultural cloud. Each piece reflects the diverse imagery of the city itself. The juxtaposition of chair styles and patterned textiles adds personality and character to the restaurant, encouraging guests to relax and linger over Southern-inspired cuisine. Beautiful glass chandeliers are hung between the artwork, adding vibrancy to the aesthetic, while a custom damask wall paper hung above a painted wainscot creates a charming library feel.
Southern Art is located at 3315 Peachtree Road in Atlanta. Southern Art will serve breakfast from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Monday through Friday and from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Brunch will be served Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner will be served from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Bourbon Bar will be open from 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily. The artisan ham bar will be open from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information about Southern Art, please visit us at facebook.com/SouthernArtBourbonBar or call the restaurant at 404.946.9070. Reservations can be made beginning Monday, September 12, by calling 404.946.9070.